ARL Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority-Serving Institutions (MI) Undergraduate Student Design Competition | W911NF18S0012

Opportunity Information: Apply for W911NF18S0012

The ARL Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority-Serving Institutions (MI) Undergraduate Student Design Competition grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number W911NF18S0012) is a discretionary U.S. Department of Defense funding announcement issued through the Department of the Army, Army Materiel Command, in support of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) HBCU/MI Student Design Competition. The core purpose of this program is to help HBCU and Minority-Serving Institution undergraduate teams take part in a research-oriented design competition focused on topic areas that align with Army needs and priorities in science, engineering, and applied technology.

This opportunity is structured as a grant (Funding Instrument Type: Grant) within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity area (CFDA 12.431). Rather than funding open-ended academic research, the grant is specifically meant to cover practical participation costs tied to the competition. In plain terms, the funding is aimed at enabling teams to show up, build what they need to build, and participate effectively. The announcement indicates support for travel and other material costs required for the design competition, which typically includes items such as transportation, lodging, registration or event-related costs when applicable, and materials or supplies needed to develop and demonstrate the team design concept or prototype. Although the description mentions prizes in the context of the competition, it makes an important distinction: prizes are not paid out of the grant. Prize funding is handled separately under a different legal authority.

A key feature of the announcement is the separation of grant funding and prize authority under federal law. The grants to HBCU/MI institutions of higher education are provided under 10 U.S.C. 2362, which is generally used for certain research and development-related support. By contrast, any prizes associated with the competition are provided separately under 10 U.S.C. 2374a, which is the prize authority available to the Secretary of Defense. Practically speaking, this means applicant institutions should design their grant budgets around allowable participation and material costs, and not treat prize money as part of the requested grant amount or as a budget line item. The grant helps teams compete; prize awards, if any, come through a separate mechanism and are not part of the grant award.

The program goals focus heavily on talent development, exposure, and relationship-building between students and the Army technical enterprise. The competition is intended to introduce HBCU/MI students to real Army research and technical challenges in a hands-on, design-driven format that can increase interest in Army science and engineering careers. It also aims to actively engage students with Army technical and operational communities, which can include interaction with researchers, engineers, and stakeholders who work on defense-relevant problems. In addition, the competition supports ARL's broader HBCU/MI engagement strategy, signaling that the effort is part of a deliberate pipeline approach to broaden participation and strengthen connections between ARL and underrepresented institutions. Finally, the competition is designed to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship, implying that teams are encouraged not just to complete an academic exercise, but to create practical, inventive solutions and to think in terms of feasibility, impact, and potential transition.

Eligibility is focused on higher education institutions, specifically public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education, with an additional category of "Others" as referenced in the announcement's eligibility clarification text. The emphasis throughout is on HBCU/MI participation, and the funding supports undergraduate student teams affiliated with those institutions. The opportunity was created on September 17, 2018, with an original closing date of November 19, 2018, indicating a time-limited application window for that cycle. The expected number of awards was 10, and the award ceiling was $8,000 per award, which underscores that the funding is intended as targeted support for competition participation expenses rather than large-scale research funding.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as an enablement grant for undergraduate design competition participation for HBCU/MI teams, administered by the Army's research enterprise. It provides modest, practical funding to remove barriers to participation, connect students directly with Army-relevant technical problems and communities, and encourage solution-driven innovation, while keeping prize funding separate from the grant award and governed under a distinct Department of Defense prize authority.

• The Department of Defense, Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "ARL Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority-Serving Institutions (MI) Undergraduate Student Design Competition" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.431.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 17, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 19, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $8,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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